HORN EXPEDITION-AVES. 
101 
bird answering to Gould’s original description and figure of L. phnnifera. Of the 
existence of two distinct species of Lophophaps in Australia there is not the 
slightest doubt, and if the specific character of the birds from the Gascoyne River 
and Champion Ray are constant, then a third species must be added to the 
number. 
[At Crown Point, on 18tli May, Mr. Belt secured the first pair of these birds. 
They proved to be adidts, and the female contained a well-develoj)ed egg in the 
oviduct. Subsequently T obtained them in numbers at Lawrie’s Creek, Petermann 
Creek, Ilermannburg, and in fact wherever rocks and waiter existed, until we 
reached Crown Point on the return journey on 26th July. On several occasions 
they made a welcome addition to our table, where their beautiful white flesh was 
much appreciated. Their love of i-ocky country has gained for them their appella¬ 
tion of “Rock Pigeons.” They are strictly ground birds and never perch on trees, 
but assembled in small companies on the rocky sides of the gorges through which 
w'e passed, where they seemed to enjoy basking in the hot sun. Owing to their 
colour they are not easily seen on the red sand or rocks. They are easily 
approached, and when disturbed rise with a “whirr” like a quail; but as soon as 
they are w'ell on the wing they gently glide away, giving a tenqiting shot. At 
Stokes’ Pass, Hugh Edgar, one of our camel drivers, found a nest, if such it might 
be called, containing two young ones nearly able to fly. They were entirely 
brown, but others probably a week older were found, w'hich had developed the 
white and black on the throat and head, which were invisible on the nestlings, as the 
feathers had not formed on those parts. The birds lay their eggs on the ground, 
generally near a tussock of porcupine grass, and place a few loose straws around, 
but in such a careless manner that it scarcely deserves the name of nest. Sub- 
seipiently, at Haast’s Bluff, Dr. Stirling found several nests containing eggs or 
young ones. There were never more than two eggs, which are about one-tliird 
smaller tlian those of OcypJiaps lophotes, and are of a dull, creamy-white colour, 
with rather rough surface and lacking the usual glossy surface of pigeon eggs. I 
was informed that these birds have never been found further south than Grown 
Point, on the Finke River.] 
No. 71. Geopelia cuneata, Latham. Little Turtle-Dove. 
Columba cuneata^ Lath., Ind. Orn. Supph, p. Ixi. (1801). 
Geopelia cuneata., Gould, Bds. Austr., fob, Vol. V., pi. 74 (1848) ; Sturt, 
Exped. Centr. Austr., Vol. II., App. p. 44 (1849); Salvad., Brit. JMus. Cat. Bds., 
Vol. XXL, p. 462 (1893). 
